Playing with Power: A workshop on learning status through improv with Alison Goldie

Improvisation is nothing without understanding status. Scenes are boring, dialogue is flat, characters feel false. When you use status, you are in possession of a wonderful tool; the audience won’t see what you’re doing, but the scenes will feel fresh and have a ‘truth’ about them, even if they are set in fantastical worlds or are peopled entirely by talking animals. Improvising with knowledge of status casts vivid light on the power games people play as a matter of course in daily life. And it will teach you how drama works: all the best drama ever written and performed, whether it be comic or tragic, hinges on status.

Alison Goldie facilitates a jam-packed session of her favourite status games that she has tried and tested over many years of teaching. Her book The Improv Book: Improvisation for Theatre, Comedy, Education and Life (Oberon Books) has just been published. Here’s what reviewers said:

‘In a world where imagination seems to be fighting a losing battle against technology, Alison Goldie has come up with a brilliant and easy-to-follow guide to putting people back in touch with this essential part of their creative minds. A beautifully written handbook to one of the simplest yet most misunderstood performing arts by one of the UK’s most experienced performers.

This book is a brilliant addition to any performer’s library and useful to educators, performers, the business community and fascinated bystanders. This book should be on the bloody national curriculum!’

Phill Jupitus, comedian

‘Cheerful, chatty and very informative... A readable, heedable role-book, a fine fools' guide to improvisation, wherein lies plenty to plunder for those learning and teaching drama at all levels.’

John Hegley, poet and musician

‘A wondrous toolbox for the imagination’

Jake Arnott, novelist

‘It's useful to be able to control yourself sometimes, and it's dreadful when it becomes a habit. The Improv Book is a treasure chest of ways to bring more zest, surprise and depth back into your life – and into the lives of your students, your employees, your children, your parents and anyone else who might need it. It's really very good. I just made that up. But it's true.’

Guy Claxton, author of What's the Point of School? and Building Learning Power

‘Fabulous book, humorous, instructive, informative

– an absolute must-have for anyone interested in

comedy and improvisation!’

Brenda Gilhooly, comedian and TV writer

‘Improvisation and imagination go hand in hand” says Alison Goldie in her upbeat and helpful book with its engaging subtitle 'improvisation for theatre, comedy, education and life'. Goldie is an actor, director and facilitator who has taught improv all over the world – and not just to actors. Her book is full of practical exercises, lists and interesting ways of working. I love the status game activities, for instance, when each member of group uses body language and eye contact to establish status and then to experiment with it. And there are no rules for improvisation – it’s about breaking the rules and seeing where it takes you. Much of Goldie’s work is potentially applicable to almost any walk of life. She wants people to communicate and get past the barriers which often impede them. I’m inclined to agree with Phill Jupitus, quoted on the cover as saying “This book should be on the bloody national curriculum’.

Susan Elkin, The Stage

Alison Goldie biography:

Alison was an early adopter of alternative comedy, being in the 1980s, one of a double act, The Wild Girls, and also a jobbing stand-up comic. She once supported Julian Clary at Blackpool Winter Gardens but had lost her contact lenses so couldn’t see the enormous crowd. As a performing improviser, Alison played regularly for Theatresports™ in London, then became a core member of legendary improv troupe Spontaneous Combustion, who recently celebrated their 25th anniversary with a show in London, only lacking a few of their original teeth. In the 1990’s on TV, Alison played David Baddiel’s girlfriend (who was having an affair with Rob Newman) in the series Newman and Baddiel in Pieces (BBC2), and was a regular presenter on The Travel Show (BBC2) and other travel fare such as Dream Ticket (ITV), Carlton Country (ITV) and Postcards (The Travel Channel).

On radio, Alison was a weekly contributor to Loose Ends (BBCRadio 4) and acted in many radio plays and sketch shows, once playing a singing penguin in a play by Steve Bell, and another time playing Einstein’s wife (Serbian accent? No probs…). In 1996 she formed The Weird Sisters theatre company with Kath Burlinson which toured internationally until 2002 with its devised shows, winning several major fringe theatre awards including The Grand Prize at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia in 2000 and the Best Female Performer at the Orlando Fringe Festival, USA in 1999 for Alison. None of these awards could compete with the great honour of being groped by the Mayor of Arnhem whilst performing in that fair city on one of three tours of the Netherlands.

As a director, Alison has directed five plays for Vienna’s English Theatre including Look Back in Anger, devised and directed 10 musicals for Youth Music Theatre, and directed fringe productions including Volpone, Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It, as well as much new writing. For three years she has directed the winning entries of the Trinity College International Playwriting Competition, Isilwanyana Esoykekayo (The Garrick Theatre), The Quest of the Four Princesses and The Last Word (Unicorn Theatre). From 2007-2010, Alison performed her one-woman show about her love-life, Lady in Bed around the UK.

As a teacher, Alison has taught improv just about everywhere, and to many wonderful students of all abilities, but has special affection for the holiday centres of Skyros in Greece and Cortijo Romero in Spain, where she still facilitates much creative work by adults who have no idea what improvisation is, then go home with big smiles on their faces and new strings to their bows.

How Much?

Waged: £15
Conc: £12 (Unwaged, FT students, Equity members and over 60s)

Where?

Theatre Delicatessen, Rehearsal Studio 4

Age: 18+